


valentine boy

by starlightkun



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Childhood Friends, Childhood Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, rich kid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26561971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlightkun/pseuds/starlightkun
Summary: in which you’re reunited with your childhood friend and refuse to let him go this time
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	valentine boy

Your childhood wasn’t an average one. Growing up in bulletproof cars and large estates and government buildings, always accompanied by at least two bodyguards and wearing clothes too expensive for rambunctious children who will grow out of them soon, tended to set you apart.

Being the daughter of a rather controversial politician warranted a different lifestyle from your peers. Your father wasn’t always so controversial and targeted, he used to be part of the single majority party in the government. It was when you were almost twelve that he started finding issue with their ideas and policies and dissented to form his own political faction. Both sides had equally impassioned and fervent supporters, making your whole family a target.

But recently, the two sides had been trying to reconcile, or at least come to some kind of agreement to keep the government from descending further and further into a state of chaos and inefficiency. And that was how you ended up at the all-too-familiar mansion of Jung Jaesung, your father’s biggest rival and oldest friend. When they were a part of the same faction, you would be at this mansion almost every other week, spending all of your time with his son that was of the same age as you.

Jung Jaehyun was the only person who you could ever relate to in your life; the two of you grew up together and shared your childhoods together. You could still vividly remember when you were eleven and he was thirteen, holding each other tightly in his bedroom as the two of you tried to ignore your fathers shouting at each other in the next room over. It all climaxed to your father bursting into the room and pulling you away from your best—and only—friend. That was the last time you’d seen him.

But as you strolled into the lavish mansion arm-in-arm with your father, you kept your eyes peeled for Jaehyun. Surely, he’d be here. Your father seemed to have spotted someone he wanted to talk to, as he suddenly changed course, the crowd parting to allow him to lead you across the room.

“Jaesung, Hwayoung” your father greeted the couple with a formal bow, and you followed his lead by curtsying.

The man gave you two a bow as well, “Ah, Taeyoon. Oh, and is that Y/N?”

When you looked up at him, he grinned broadly, “It is!”

The wife lights up at this, fondly looking over you, “You’ve grown up so beautifully, Y/N.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Jung,” you gave her a friendly smile back, eyes still scanning the room. There were a few younger men around the Jungs, but you were absolutely sure that none of them were Jaehyun.

The others around you began a tart yet civil conversation between them, and you were about to give up on looking for your old friend when someone bumped into your shoulder. You whipped around to look at them, just able to catch a brief glimpse of their face as they turned back to look at you. Your heart nearly leapt up in your chest as he winked at you before continuing on.

_Jaehyun._

Muttering an ‘excuse me’ to your father and the rest of the group, you broke away from them to rush after him. You mindlessly wormed your way through the crowd, not caring who you body-checked or whose toes you stepped on. Finally, you latched onto his elbow right at the edge of the room.

He looked back at you with a smile so heartachingly familiar that you nearly burst into tears right there. Despite not seeing him in over a decade, this was definitely your Jaehyun. His dimples, his bright eyes, and his nose that you always found oddly charming.

“Hi, Y/N,” he greeted you so casually that you stumbled over your own overwhelming emotions as you fought to respond as coolly as he did.

“Hey, Jaehyun,” your voice was still strained and cracked halfway through his name.

The two of you looked at each other for another moment, the rest of the sights and sounds of the party and all the other people in the room fading away. He put a finger to his lips, taking your hand in his as he led you even further away from the party. You ended up on the dimly lit patio just outside a sliding glass door covered by curtains. And finally, you couldn’t stand it anymore, throwing your arms around his neck and burying your face into the lapel of his suit that smelled all too much like him.

Jaehyun chuckled as he hugged you back just as tightly, “I knew you were going to do that. That’s why I moved us out here.”

“Shut up, I missed you,” you mumbled into him, feeling one of his hands soothingly rub your back, the moment giving you a horrible case of déjà vu to the last time you’d seen him.

“I missed you too, little.”

The old—and rather unoriginal, in your opinion—childhood nickname was what finally made your tears spill over.

“Ten years.”

“Ten years,” he repeated quietly, the hand rubbing your back moving up to cradle the back of your head. “I know.”

Your chest shook as you tried to take deep breaths and stop your crying, well aware of just how ridiculous you were being. You didn’t want to let go of him, but you did, taking a step back as you continued delicately wiping at your tears. When you looked back up at Jaehyun, you saw that his eyes were moist as well, a hesitant smile coming to his face when you made eye contact.

* * *

You spent the rest of the night with Jaehyun, attached at the hip and lost in your own world together. As the two of you caught up on the decade that you missed out on and reminisced about the good parts of your childhood together, it all felt familiar but so strikingly different. You swore you never used to sit this close to one another, you never used to grab and hold each other’s hands so frequently, you never used to think about how good he looked in a suit, you never used to hear your heart thud so loudly in your ears when he smiled, and you _never_ used to think about kissing him this much.

“Y/N?” Jaehyun asked quietly from beside you, startling you from your thoughts.

The two of you were on a couch tucked into a darkened corner of the lounge just outside the main party space, devoid of people and wandering eyes as you conversed.

“Hm?”

“Were you listening?”

“Oh,” your face heated up as you diverted your eyes from their previous focus on his lips, now looking down at your hand that was intertwined with his. “No, sorry. I was just thinking.”

“What about?” His voice was low and much closer to your ear than before, you could feel his warm breath just grazing your ear.

You weren’t sure what compelled you to do it, but you turned just a little bit to look at him shyly as you answered, “You.”

“And what about me?”

A short sigh came from your lips as you cast your eyes down again. Jaehyun took his hand from yours, but you weren’t without contact with him for long, as he raised it up to tuck away a stray piece of hair. You practically preened into his touch, cursing yourself for doing so.

“Y/N,” he murmured your name, his fingers coming to rest gently on your cheek and jawline. “Can I kiss you?”

You could only nod, letting him turn your head ever so slightly to lightly brush his lips against yours. It was barely a kiss, but your whole body responded to it. You eagerly leaned in further, your noses momentarily bumping as you found a new angle to deepen the kiss. The previously gentle hand that was caressing your cheek now gripped at your neck, pulling you even closer as his thumb kept a commanding presence at your jawline, effectively controlling your movements.

Jaehyun kissed you slowly and deliberately, only making you more impatient as he refused to give in to your attempts to speed it up. He wrapped an arm around your back, guiding you to sit on his lap, satiating your need to be even closer to him than before. You had just looped an arm around his neck when he suddenly pulled back and unceremoniously shoved you off of him and back onto the couch.

You were about to curse him out when he yanked you to your feet and dragged you in front of a painting on the wall opposite the couch, saying loudly, “My father bought it from a French collector just a few months ago.”

“Y/N?” You heard your father calling your name from just outside where you were, and it dawned on you. Jaehyun must have heard him before you, hence the rough and sudden treatment.

Desperately fixing your hair and wiping at the remnants of your lip makeup, you hoped that the dark would be able to conceal how kiss-swollen your lips and blown out your pupils were. Jaehyun continued spouting out random facts about the painting you were in front of as he tidied up his hair and outfit himself.

“Oh, there you are, Y/N,” your father sounded relieved and right behind you as he said that.

You pivoted around to greet him with a smile, “Hi, Papa. Jaehyun was just showing me some of the new art they’ve gotten. I’m sorry if I worried you at all.”

“No, I knew you were around here somewhere. I should have figured you ran off somewhere with Jaehyun, that’s what always happened when you were little.”

Your father’s words made your cheeks heat up as they sounded much less innocent when you remembered what you were just doing with Jaehyun after ‘running off’ with him. Jaehyun had his own charming and dimpled smile on as he addressed him, “I’m sorry I didn’t greet you earlier, Mr. Y/L/N, it’s a pleasure to see you again.”

“You’ve grown up so well, Jaehyun,” he said, then added with a teasing tone, “Too well. How did you manage to get that tall? You must tower over your dad.”

“My grandfather was around this height, so my parents figure I must have gotten it from him.”

Your father nodded, then turned back to you, “We’re going to leave in a few minutes, okay? I have one more thing to discuss with Jaesung, then we’ll go. Whenever you’re done with the art, meet me out at the car.”

“Okay,” you acknowledged this with a nod, a reluctance sinking in the pit of your stomach as you didn’t want your night with Jaehyun to end.

After your father left, Jaehyun let out an audible sigh of relief, a wide grin on his face as he looked back to you. It fell when he saw your own pensive look, however, “Woah, what’s with the pout, little?”

“I have to go,” your voice was really close to a rather pathetic-sounding whine, but you decided to mark it up to the late time and the tiredness slowly settling on your being.

He lets out a small chuckle, reaching into his slacks pocket and retrieving his phone, “You’ve got one of these, right?”

“Duh,” you glared at him, getting your own from your clutch.

* * *

Jaehyun insisted on walking you out to your car, as if there was any possibility of you getting lost. You knew this house and the grounds as well as your own. But you weren’t complaining, wanting to prolong your time with him as much as possible. Your father had gotten to the car before you, meaning that you had to give Jaehyun a simple and polite goodbye before getting in. He gave you a final smile and wave as the car started down the driveway and away from the Jung estate.

“Did you have fun tonight, my dear?” Your father asked, reaching over to squeeze your hand.

“Yes, I did,” you touched your lip as you remembered how your night went. “Did you?”

And as your father started going on about the progress he made with Jung Jaesung and members of both factions, and how the country would be entering a new political age of cooperation, you couldn’t think of anything else except being able to answer the text your phone screen had just lit up with. From Jaehyun.

* * *

You stumbled out to your kitchen still half-asleep that morning, mumbling a half-hearted ‘good morning’ to the staff members you passed on your way there. Your father was already at the breakfast bar, being served by the private chef also on staff. The chef started on another plate for you, and you groaned aloud as you stretched, cracking your back in at least eight different places.

“Good morning, my dear,” your father took a sip of his coffee as his eyes never left the report he was reading on his laptop.

“Morning, Papa,” you rested your head on your arms, already feeling your eyes closing again.

“You got any plans for today?”

“Nope, why?”

“I have a semi-formal meeting with Jaesung and some of his associates.”

You let out a grunt of acknowledgement, eyes drifting shut completely.

“At the Jung estate.”

Your eyes shot open again as you sat up straight, trying to conceal your excitement as you asked, “Oh, really?”

“Jaesung says Jaehyun might be home as well, if you’d like to accompany me. You seemed to be getting along well again at the party.”

“Y-Yeah, sure. I’ll come,” you fought to keep your voice level as you agreed, nearly bursting at the seams with elation.

Your father nodded, finally glancing over at you from the computer screen, “We leave in thirty minutes, okay?”

Nodding, you eagerly dug into your breakfast, needing to get ready to leave as soon as possible.

After scarfing your food down, you had just made it back into your room when your phone buzzed with a message.

[jaehyun: bring a swimsuit]

* * *

You’d just finished your formalities with Mr. and Mrs. Jung but had yet to see Jaehyun. You had a small bag at your feet carrying the promised swim suit that you picked up as you went to follow them further into the house. As your father and Mr. Jung broke off towards a hallway that you knew led to a small conference room, Mrs. Jung led you to the tea room, gesturing for you to sit across the little table from her.

“You really have grown up so beautiful, Y/N,” she smiled at you as she poured you a cup of tea.

“Thank you, Mrs. Jung. The redecoration in here is amazing, it’s changed so much since I was younger,” you complimented her back, nodding for her to drop a couple sugar cubes into your tea.

“Oh, we got this done a few years ago. I forgot how long it’s been,” she had a wistful look on her face as she looked around the room. “How have you and your father been?”

“We’ve been well,” you absentmindedly droned on about a few key things that have happened in the past ten years of your life, truly focused on the fact that Jaehyun was nowhere in sight.

Just as Mrs. Jung was recounting a story of her own youth—one that took place at a horseback riding camp—a familiar head poked into the room, one that made you grin. Jaehyun waited patiently for his mother to finish her story before fully entering the room, finally getting her attention, “Hi Mom, hi Y/N.”

“Oh, Jaehyun!” His mother seems practically relieved that he’s there, beckoning him over, “I have a few things to attend to for your birthday gala. Would you mind entertaining Y/N while she waits for her father?”

“Of course not,” he replied cordially as his mother stands up.

“I’m sorry, Y/N. It was wonderful to see you again.”

“It’s not a problem, it was great to catch up with you as well, Mrs. Jung,” you gave your farewell to her, trying not to come off as excited as you were for her to finally leave you with Jaehyun.

When the sounds of her footsteps had faded away, Jaehyun offered you a hand up with a grin, “Hi, little.”

You felt yourself turn warm at the nickname that used to infuriate you when you were younger, responding with a quiet, “Hi, Jaehyun,” as you placed your hand in his and stood up.

“Did you bring it?”

“Yep,” you picked up your bag with your other hand as he started leading you down the halls.

* * *

Swimming in the beginning of winter probably would’ve been bad. But the Jung’s had an indoor pool, a new development since the last time you were there. You were sitting on the edge of the pool, dipping your feet into the medium-depth, still somewhat cool water as you watched Jaehyun with mild amusement. He was at the deep end, standing on the small platform a few feet above the water.

Earlier you had mentioned the flips the two of you used to do into their outdoor pool when you were younger, and he insistently claimed that he could still do them. Not like he was ever stellar at them, but there were a couple times where he actually stuck the landing.

He was right at the edge, readjusting the grip of his toes.

“Oh, come on!” You yelled out at him, snorting as he nearly lost his balance.

He managed to stay upright, glaring at you, “Shush!”

You mimicked zipping your mouth and throwing away the key as he readied himself again. He wound his arms before leaping off the platform. And practically faceplanting right onto the water with a sharp _smack!_ that made you wince in sympathy.

As he came up for air, he let out a hiss, hand coming up to rub his chest. You were cackling as he swam towards you, seeing that his chest was already turning red from the force of it.

“You suck,” you managed to say between laughs, earning an eyeroll from him.

“Like you could do any better.”

“I’m not the one who claimed that I was good at them.”

Jaehyun had reached you, able to stand in this depth, his shoulders and freshly pink skin just below them now much clearer to you as they were out of the water. You were still snickering as he stopped in front of you with a slight pout.

“You’re mean.”

“And?”

He reached his hands out towards you, palms facing you and fingers spread. You took the clue, lacing your own with his, the simple gesture making your stomach do flip-flops. His thumbs rubbed yours soothingly for a moment.

Right before he yanked you into the water with him.

Your screech of surprise was cut off as you went under, fully enveloped by the shockingly cool water for a moment. Coming up with murder in your eyes, you pounced on Jaehyun, determined to shove his head underwater in retaliation. He was unfortunately much stronger than when he was ten years ago, simply laughing at your feeble attempts.

Giving up on drowning him, you instead smacked his head as your payback before moving to get off of him. His hands settled on your hips as you did so, encouraging you to stay there, your legs wrapped around his waist and arms taking purchase around his neck. You looked down at him with an eyebrow raised, earning that same innocent and dimpled smile.

You brushed a few wet strands of hair back from his forehead as you continued admiring him. He leaned up, and you closed your eyes as you think he’s going to kiss you. You were half-right, he so coyly kissed just the corner of your mouth.

“I hate you,” you mumbled as he goes back to press another feather-light peck to the other corner.

“If this is you hating me,” he squeezed your sides, making you giggle and squirm at the slightly ticklish feeling. “Then please, despise me.”

And he finally kissed you again, pressing his lips to yours in a sweet and prolonged moment.

* * *

You weren’t sure how long you’d been like this for, neither of you speaking as you shared kisses of varying length and intensity. But you were sure that your fathers’ meeting would be over soon, your forehead falling to rest in the crook of his neck in disappointment.

“What’s up, little?” He questioned as he continued gently walking the two of you through the shallower end of the pool, the water still hiding most of your bodies from the stale and warm air of the indoor facility.

“Nothin’…” you covered up your sour mood with a gentle kiss on his bare skin that was right underneath your mouth.

“Y/N.”

“Jae.”

“ _What’s up?_ ”

You sighed, not wanting to admit your pitiful need to just be with him, unsure yourself of what this was or where this was going. Distracting from the topic, you brought up something that had been lingering in the back of your mind, “So… a birthday gala?”

When Jaehyun chuckled, you could feel it against you, and you brought your face back out in time to see the small smile that crossed his face, one that made your heart flutter.

“Yeah, my parents have thrown me a birthday gala every year since my eighteenth birthday,” he explained. “My mom has started planning for it even earlier this year than normal.”

“Two months isn’t _that_ early.”

“You remember my birthday?”

“Yeah, Valentine’s Boy,” you pinched his nose in an attempt to get the awestruck look off his face.

It was still there as he nodded, and he leaned up to kiss you again, soft and quick. You were about to ask what that was for when you heard your phone go off from the pool deck. It was the text tone you’d set for your father and turned up extra loud so you could know exactly when he tried to get a hold of you.

Jaehyun let out a disappointed sigh from where he had already been moving in for another kiss, reluctantly letting you go for you to swim over to the side of the pool and pull yourself out. Drying off your hands, you turned your phone on to read the message.

[papa: meet me at the car in ten]

Right as you groaned in disappointment, a pair of arms came to wrap around your waist, a wet chest pressed against your back as Jaehyun rested his chin on your shoulder.

“Are you leaving soon?”

“Yeah, ten minutes.”

He makes a noise of acknowledgement, making no move to let you go.

“Jae, that means I have to go change.”

“You can change in five minutes, right?”

“I have to _meet him at the car_ in ten minutes.”

Jaehyun stepped back from you with a disappointed sigh, and you had a disgruntled look on your face as well, regretting that whole conversation. But you couldn’t make your father wait.

* * *

After you emerged from the room you were changing in, you kept toweling your hair off, knowing that there was no way you could avoid having wet hair when you went to your dad. But maybe he wouldn’t notice your hair being _damp_.

Jaehyun had dried off as well and thrown a shirt back on, offering his hand out for you to take. You laced your fingers with his without hesitation, feeling a heavy reluctance to leave.

The two of you stopped some distance from the main wing of the house, and you hugged him tightly, “Bye, Jaehyun.”

“Bye, little,” he kissed your forehead, then your nose, then your lips. “I’ll see you again soon, okay? We’ll go out, just the two of us, nothing to do with our fathers.”

“I’d like that.”

* * *

Jaehyun kept true to his word. Almost every other day, the two of you were together. The dates varied between just a simple movie night in your house when your father was on a business trip, to a picnic in the park, to dinner in the VIP room of an already exclusive restaurant. It felt like a dream, being with Jaehyun.

But were you truly… with him?

As you were nestled into his side one night, watching the stars in a perfect silence, that thought came to you again. You shifted uncomfortably with your uncomfortable thought, disturbing Jaehyun as well.

“Hey, you good?” He asked, letting you readjust until you found a somewhat comfortable position again.

You made a small noise of agreement, earning a peck to the crown of your head and a sigh from him.

“Alright.”

He had just resumed looking at the sky again when you finally blurted out, “Jae… what is this?”

“What do you mean?”

“This, what we’re doing. What is it?”

“A… relationship?” He said it as if was the most obvious thing in the world, and his confidence in it made your cheeks flush. Embarrassed at how much you seemed to be overthinking this, you buried your face into his side.

But he wasn’t going to let you get off that easily, “Why? What do you think it is, little?”

“I didn’t know, that’s why I was asking you,” you mumbled, and you suddenly felt very cold as he rolled onto his side to properly face you, losing all contact between your bodies.

He had a thoughtful frown on his face, “What do you _want_ it to be, Y/N?”

“I want,” you took a moment to think about it, think about what you really wanted this to be. “I want this to be a relationship. But…”

“But what?”

“I still don’t—” you let out a groan, rolling onto your front and hiding your face in your hands in frustration. “I can’t— I don’t know how to… say things.”

You _felt_ it with every fiber of your being. But putting that feeling into _words_ was impossible, your tongue getting tied as you became even more exasperated and angry with your lack of intelligible speech.

“Then I’ll say things,” Jaehyun offered, his next words knocking the breath out of you. “I love you.”

First, you froze. Next, you snapped your head up so quickly to look at him that you nearly broke your neck. Then, you stared at him in utter disbelief, scrambling to get into a sitting position to properly look him in the eye.

The only hint of him not feeling as calm as he looked was the distinct dust of pink across his cheeks as you kept looking at him with wide eyes.

At your lack of response, he continued on, apparently with no intention of backpedaling, “I love you. And I want to spend my birthday with you. Not all the people that my parents invited to the gala. Only you. I want to go on a trip on my birthday, with you. Because I love you.”

And finally, you choked out something that was meant to be humorous, “So we’re eloping.”

“Yeah. Minus the marriage part,” he replied without missing a beat, his dimples returning with his smile. “Is that a yes?”

“Yes.”

* * *

“This was a good idea,” you declared, stretching out in the sunlight much like a cat.

After the initial adrenaline rush of secretly buying plane tickets, packing in the dead of night, and sneaking off to an airport all without any of your parents knowing, you two had ended up in a private beach house on an actual private island that you could rent. This was officially the most “rich kid” thing you’d ever done.

Jaehyun approached where you were laying in the hammock with an affectionate smirk, “The hammock was what finally made you decide this was a good idea?”

“Yep,” you smiled back up at him, reaching a hand out towards him. “Happy Birthday, love.”

He laced his fingers with yours, gently shaking your linked hands as you kept swaying ever so slightly in the hammock. You thought back to when you were first planning the trip, and you asked him what he wanted for his birthday. He left you on read.

“So… what _do_ you want for your birthday?” You questioned, squinting your eyes against the harsh sun to be able to make out his face properly.

Suddenly, your life flashed before your eyes as Jaehyun attempted to climb into the hammock with you, nearly flipping it all the way over. He managed to keep the both of you in it somehow, readjusting to hold you in his arms, his skin just cool enough as to not overheat you in the already warm air and almost direct sunlight.

He pecked your cheek before dropping his head and mumbling against your shoulder, “I’ve already got what I want.”

Resting your hands atop his and taking one of them to play with his fingers, you couldn’t even let his words melt you, sighing, “I feel terrible for not getting you anything, you know?”

“Alright, when we get back, take me to brunch and we’ll call it even.”

You weren’t fully content with this, but you knew he wouldn’t budge any further, “You’re lucky I love you.”

“Mhm,” he hummed in agreement, his chest vibrating against your back along with it.

“Hey… what time to you think it is back home?”

“Probably,” he took a moment to think about it. “Probably around time for my birthday gala to start.”

Turning over to be able to face him, you saw a satisfied grin on his lips as he realized it. You giggled, and poked his cheek, “Dimples.”

“You’re weird.”

“Maybe so,” you scooted up barely enough to peck just underneath his mouth. “But you love me, right?”

“I think I hate you right now.”

“If this is you hating me,” you teased, gently grazing your nails on some of his bare chest. “Then please, despise me.”


End file.
